'Colombia needs more confidence and to leave polarization behind': María Lorena Gutiérrez, president of Grupo Aval

At the Local Development Forum held by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Barranquilla, María Lorena Gutiérrez, president of Grupo Aval, spoke about the importance of working with local authorities and the challenges the country currently faces moving forward. "Colombia's economic growth in the coming years depends on what the regions are doing because we don't see much investment at the national level," she stated.

I'm proud that Barranquilla has managed to host an OECD event in Colombia, as it's an organization that embraces best practices in public policy, including what's best for education, healthcare, infrastructure, and tax management, among others. Barranquilla and the regions are incredibly important for economic growth. The regions are an example of how the private sector can invest in and finance projects, because sadly, we don't see many at the national level.

The public sector can't do it alone, especially when it faces fiscal challenges like those Colombia is experiencing , where it lacks sufficient revenue to invest. Nor can the private sector do it alone. What's needed is for us to work together to invest, something that's already been invented with public-private partnerships, not only in roads but also in social issues and education.

We must support Colombia's economic growth in the coming years, which depends on what the regions are doing, because we don't see any investment at the national level.

I think politics shouldn't be the norm with the economy. The country needs greater trust and to stop polarizing. We shouldn't say that the private sector is bad or that the public sector is bad, thieving, and corrupt. No. We need trust to be able to work together. The second is how the private sector can truly work hand in hand with communities and support their development. Sometimes intermediaries emerge who damage that relationship. The third is that we execute. Execution isn't easy because there are licenses, consultations, designs... Coordination is needed to execute efficiently. And the fourth is to have clear rules of the game that don't change.

This announcement means we are firmly committed to supporting mayors, governors, and investment. These loans are not spent on subsidies or operating expenses. You can see this in all the projects Barranquilla is carrying out, so that's where we're supporting investment.

I think an agreement was reached on those initial versions. What worries me are small and medium-sized businesses because I believe that while large businesses have higher labor costs, small businesses with three or four employees are very expensive. This could wipe out formal employment, and since you still need four employees, it could lead to informality. We must support micro and small businesses so they can bear the higher costs of the reform.

We have special programs dedicated to microenterprises. It's worth noting that of the 90,000 loans we gave to small and medium-sized businesses last year, 15,000 went to women-led companies . I love that because it demonstrates the reality of the country: many women lead businesses and are responsible for supporting their families, and that's why we need to support them.